Special Event - Defiant: The POWs Who Endured Vietnam's Most Infamous Prison

Event Details

Best-selling author ALVIN TOWNLEY will discuss his book, Defiant: The POWs Who Endured Vietnam’s Most Infamous Prison, the Women Who Fought for Them, and the One Who Never Returned. From the hundreds of brave Americans held captive during the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese singled out the 11 most uncooperative, influential, and subversive –Vietnam’s own Dirty Dozen. These leaders were exiled to a dreadful prison called Alcatraz, where despite torture and isolation, the leadership, resilience, and defiance of the “Alcatraz 11” became legend. While North Vietnam imprisoned these men for more than seven years, their remarkable wives soldiered on at home; some didn’t learn of their husbands’ fates for more than four years. These women struggled with the U. S. and North Vietnamese governments alike to secure the safe return of their loved ones. Their legacy lives on in the National League of POW/MIA Families, which they founded.

This event will also feature ADMIRAL BOB SHUMAKER, the second-longest-serving POW in Vietnam and member of the “Alcatraz 11.” Please RSVP to mc-reservations@eservices.virginia.edu.